Useful Articles

Here's a list of links to articles and News items on Online Behavioural Advertising (OBA) from both local & international sources

January 22, 2014: Is Retargeting Really a Creepy Stalker?
Returning from the holidays fresh at my desk on a toasty Jan 2, Twitter seemed abuzz with people critical of retargeting including reports of how it’s responsible for spoiling people’s Christmas gift surprise. Also on Twitter, the usual tweets calling retargeting “creepy”, “stalker”, etc raised their critical heads amidst other more educational sound bites.

To an industry insider like me, such criticisms of retargeting sound uncannily like that directed towards hitherto unknown technology breakthroughs like Google Autocomplete and back in the 19th century, trains! It’s a result of the general lack of awareness into what retargeting is and how it works. Some criticism is constructive, for example when people complain that ads don’t stop showing up after they’ve made a purchase.

In this column, I’ll try to respond to all of the criticisms and prove that retargeting is a helpful friend rather than the creepy stalker it’s usually made out to be.
Read more: www.clickz.com

May 8, 2013: Targeted Or Random; How Do You Like Your Ads?
According to a new study by Zogby Analytics for the Digital Advertising Alliance, 40.5% of respondents chose targeted ads, while another 27.6% were content to see both. Only 16.1% preferred random ads, with 15.8% unsure. Separate results from the DAA survey indicate that 47.3% of respondents are opposed to a law that “restricted how data is used for online advertising, but also potentially reduced the availability of free content such as blogs and video sites.”
Read more: www.mediapost.com